Young, Black And Reclaiming The Gallery Scene
Art galleries have always felt like sanctuaries to me a place to lose yourself in someone elses imagination while discovering something new about your own.
One of the joys of living in Rosebank, Johannesburg, is the proximity to a rich constellation of galleries: the Keyes Art Mile, home to Everard Read, Circa and Origins the historic Goodman Gallery David Krut Projects and its adjoining Art Bookshop on Jan Smuts Avenue and, just beyond, in Parktown North, the likes of Momo, Stevenson and Kalashnikovv.
Yet, despite this abundance, few of these galleries are owned by young black people. For too long, the art world has been seen as the domain of old white money a perception that isnt unfounded.
When I first moved to South Africa, nearly a decade ago, I noticed this divide acutely. Id invite friends to exhibition openings, only to be met with polite but firm refusals.
They didnt feel welcome in those spaces and who could blame them?